Jim Beam Bourbon Dinner @ Schuba's

If you love Jim Beam and eating, enjoy this match made in bourbon heaven tonight: a four-course prix fixe meal where JB is an ingredient AND a drink. Jim Beam "Bourbon Professor" Steve Cole will be on hand to school you. Tickets are $60, you must be over 21 (of course), event starts at 7:30pm at Schuba's (3159 N. Southport).

Book Signing for The Rockabillies @ The MCA

Chicago native photographer Jennifer Greenburg will be at the MCA today to sign copies of her first monograph, The Rockabillies. The book features a series of photographs of members of Greenburg's own community in Chicago and across the country, whose worlds revolve around the 1950's rockabilly aesthetic. For more information, visit the MCA's website. The signing begins at 6pm at the MCA: 220 E. Chicago.

Re-Thinking Soup @ Hull House

UIC hosts Re-Thinking Soup, a free weekly lunch where participants eat soup cooked from ingredients found at Hull House's urban gardens and chat about an assortment of topics. Event runs today from noon-1:30pm at Hull House, 800 South Halsted.

Local Dance Scene Discussion @ Cultural Center

This forum opens with a roundtable sampling of emerging, mid-career and established artists discussing the sustainability of dance-related careers in Chicago. How are dance artists locating and creating new opportunities to perform and broaden their audience base? What practical strategies are dance artists using to create exposure (print or email marketing, Facebook, face-to-face networking, collaborations, etc.)? Dance artists share their respective solutions for finding resources to help their creativity and their organizations develop and thrive. This discussion is from 6-7:30pm at the Cultural Center: 78 E. Washington, 1st Floor Garland Room.

Jeff Parker @ Rodan

Guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise) leads improvised jazz trio The Cushicles every Tuesday at Rodan. Although the line-up will sometimes vary, the main group is rounded out by bassist Josh Abrams and fellow Tortoise member, drummer John Herndon. 10:30pm. 1530 N. Milwaukee Ave. No cover.

The Doctoral Artist: Research and Art Practice @ threewalls gallery

Join threewalls this winter for the 2010 SALONS series, The Work of Gambling Historians: Oblique Glances at the Present, a special series curated by Ania Szremski. Held on Tuesday evenings at 7pm, SALONS feature guest respondents in round table discussion with the public about current topics in contemporary visual arts.

Today: Research-based artistic practice seems to have greater currency today than perhaps ever before. Art projects begin to feel like dissertations; loaded with multivalent cultural, political, and historical references, this type of practice often doesn't result in a traditional art object, but instead exists in performance, in conversations, in recreations of office spaces or archives within a gallery. Contemporary strains of this type of practice have had high visibility in Chicago recently, with exhibitions by Liam Gillick and Jeremy Diller at the MCA in the fall, and the knowledge-questioning investigation by Aspen Mays about to open at the Hyde Park Art Center; these examples will be touchstones for the conversation. With guest speakers: Patrick Bobilin, Aspen Mays, Allison Peters Quinn, and Frances Whitehead.

Biodynamic Wine Tasting & Book Signing @ Brasserie Jo

Join Chef Jean Joho of Brasserie Jo and Todd Hess of H2Vino this evening for a special wine tasting to benefit the Chicago Waldorf School. Learn the differences between between sustainable, organic and biodynamic wines, sample an array of olive oils and nosh on appetizers by Chef Joho. Chef will also be signing copies of his book, The Eiffel Tower Restaurant Cookbook, which will be available for purchase at the event. The tasting is from 5:30-8:30pm and costs $40 per person. Call (773) 828-8458 to RSVP. Brasserie Jo is located at 59 W. Hubbard St.